Society Hosts R&D Roadshows (5th Nov 2009)

Chartered Accountants Ulster Society held a series of Research and Development (R&D) Roadshows in Newry, Belfast and Londonderry this week.

The event, in partnership with Invest Northern Ireland and HM Revenue & Customs Northern Ireland Corporate Tax Office (NIrCTO), aimed to explore the opportunities open to local businesses though R&D tax relief and grants.

The event showed how R&D tax relief works, what expenditure qualifies, the treatment of grants and subsidies and how some companies can claim a payable tax credit. Examples were used to illustrate what projects and activities qualify along with an overview of the grants available for R&D.

Eamonn Donaghy of Chartered Accountants Ulster Society said: “Innovation is crucial to Northern Ireland’s economy and so it is vital that we support local companies in undertaking R&D, and ensure that those companies are in the best position to exploit future opportunities.

“Newry, Belfast and Derry are an important business centres in Northern Ireland and there are some small and medium sized businesses here which are among our best innovators. We hope that highlighting the support available for R&D we can encourage more local companies to examine these opportunities." 

David Stewart, Head of NIrCTO said: “The R&D Relief Scheme is a key element of government policy and is now the largest single source of government support for business R&D.  An increasing number of Northern Ireland companies have already benefited from the scheme and those that have claimed found the process easier than expected. 

“I look forward to continuing to work with Invest NI, the Chartered Accountants Ulster Society and other partners to further increase the level of awareness and take up of the relief in Northern Ireland.” 

A copy of the NIrCTO Powerpoint presentation and the Invest NI Powerpoint presentation are available for download

Pictured at event in Newry are (from left) David Stewart, NIrCTO; Brendan McGuigan, Invest NI; and Eamonn Donaghy and Michael Black of Chartered Accountants Ulster Society.